Do Minorities Deserve College More Than The Rest?

Poor and starving kids in East St. Louis walk through halls laden with sewage. They don’t even have the chance to go to school half the time because the sewage is toxic and could harm them. More than half of the senior girls are pregnant and don’t care about life anymore. This is something that every kid that is working hard to get into a good college is thinking about. They are wondering if they won’t get into the college of their choice because of affirmative action. Affirmative action gives you extra brownie points on your resume, which makes you more likely to get in. Many teenagers that have great grades and test scores are not getting accepted because they are not part of a minority. The arising question is affirmative action the right thing to do or is it just making racism worse? Or is it fair that someone that is poor and came from a bad school should get extra points, because they didn’t get as good of an education as someone who went to a private school? What has America come to, accepting minorities just to have diversity in their school, even if it is sacrificing integrity and school pride.

Working hard your whole life and having a resume as long as the Chicago Towers is high and still getting rejected by a college. That’s what affirmative action is, it allows minorities extra points on their resume just because they are a minority. I don’t about you but I don’t think that is even close to being right. Someone could work their whole life to get into a good college and another person could coast their whole life and get in just because they are a minority. You should have to meet standards because it is not fair that this should ever happen to any hard working American. We should make sure that person that gets in on extra points is actually tries and doesn’t waist it, and if he waist it then they should kick him out and accept the hard worker. Sounds like something Obama would support.

True the people in poverty stricken areas don’t have the best education, but they could make the most of it and try harder. By trying harder and showing the colleges that you try hard even though you don’t go to the best school will set you apart from the rest of the applicants. I think they should look longer and harder at your resume if you come from a poverty stricken area, but not give you bonus points and especially not a lot. As long as you have good grades and try hard then they aren’t going to be beat out by some lazy rich kid.

Racism has been around for hundreds of years and will probably continue for a while. Race should have nothing to do with getting into college, it should be based on how you perform. So many people have tried to create diversity in the colleges, but is that really better? Do we want to accept someone that might not be as good as another person but is a minority? This could lower their schools average test score if you do this too much, but if you control it then it could give benefits. If you control it then you will have diversity and keep the high test averages. Besides when you use affirmative action it is just flipping the tables on racism. You just started to accept a lot of minorities but now you left out the middle class white person and that’s not fair. So you have to find that perfect median or else it doesn’t work.

Lowering test scores to create diversity in colleges, and sacrificing school pride to make sure the diversities get an equal shot at getting in. If you are trying to get into Harvard and get rejected because they accepted someone that isn’t as smart as you, but they are a minority that doesn’t seem fair. It’s not fair that the smarter person wasn’t accepted because he isn’t a minority. This is why many people don’t like affirmative action, but I think there can be a balance between minorities and none minorities. That is what affirmative action should try to do! It should create that balance so that smart people get a chance and the minorities that try hard and work hard get a chance.

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Whoever wrote this essay needs to look over their writing carefully - there are a lot of grammar mistakes and other errors, like waist (the middle of your body) rather than waste (throwing away something that still has value). Also, the author should be more careful to avoid a tone of complaint and build a rational argument to support his/her opinion.

As an Admissions Coordinator at a university, I would like to inform you of our outlook when reviewing a student’s application. Seeing a student with a 4.0, 4.5, or 4.8 grade point average, with a 28 or 29 on the ACT enrolled in five AP courses their senior, and a part of 7 extra-curricular activities is incredibly common. Colleges and universities are now searching for students that standout in ways beyond the common notions of success. In particular we are looking for whether a student i... (more »)

I respect your article and actually agree with a lot of your points, yet, your wording is highly offensive. To imply that someone being poor and going to a bad school is their fault is the most ridiculous thing i have heard and your Obama commment was done only to make controversy

I think, to get better feedback on this article, that you should consider rewording some things. Saying that minorities get "extra points" because they are minorities, or saying that under-privileged teens are more likely to get into college because they are under-privileged isn't true. Yes, colleges have quotas they must meet, and no one wants their college to be dubbed as "racist" because they are not diverse enough, but the people who get into these c... (more »)

Despite the negative comments that you have received, I agree with your perspective. I come from a less privileged background but my mother and I worked hard to bring ourselves to where we are today. I won scholarship after scholarship based on merit until now I go to a great school, and can get into college based on merit, not on where I've come from. Not everyone gets to go to college, but who does shouldn't be about where you've come from it should be about what you've achieve... (more »)

Sorry, but this article is too biased to even argue with--I am shocked teenink posted this as an editor's choice because clearly little research was done, and all credibility was lost when I read "Sounds like something Obama would support".
Minorities have to deal with a lot of other issues besides school work. As a middle class white person, I mainly have to worry about my school, friends, etc. People of lower incomes and of different ethnicities have other dilemmas they must wo... (more »)

I understand you're perspective on the issue and I agree with the fact that to a non minority it could seem unfair, however people who live in urban and low income areas don't always have the option of making school a priority because of their home lives. And everyone makes bad decisions. Affirmative action helps to make sure that it doesn't always seriously affect a person's chance to get into an acrredited college. Being an African American, I do feel like that certain schools ... (more »)

I am a minority and I am offended by your article. I will get into a great college not because I'm a minority, but because I worked harder than others to EARN my place. I'm not getting a free seat just b/c my parents are immigrants. I probably work twice as hard as you to keep up with all my honors courses. English is my second language and I'm an honor student. Most minority kids DO work harder than the average white male because they know the alternative to fin... (more »)

This article sucks because I am black, I had to pay 600 dollar(working my butt off by the way) for three saturadays to up my ACT score. I was the only black kid in the class. I worked my butt off to get into college, they treated me like anyone else. I was graceful. Do not take your anger out on everyone dude. you are upset about something.

While I understand your frustration, you may have been able to write a more convincing argument if you had actually done some research. You obviously have no statistics or historical examples to back up any of your claims, you are just spewing hateful ideas that probably came from your parents and did not require you to think. Also, spellcheck is a beautiful invention, you should try it out sometime.

Although I strongly agree with the point of this article, it needs a bit of work. You're coming at this very biased and not looking at both sides very well. It feels like you're implying that no poor or colored person should get into college. I know this is not your point, but I get this feeling from it because of how hard you are coming from that side. Plus you directly bring politics and the president into it, which is a big no-no! Unless you're looking to outright insult someone e... (more »)

For your information, since you think you know me by my commments, I am not a priviledged kid..just a thinking one. I don't subscribe to the spoon fed, liberal lies that this generation has been raised on. I look at the truth and see that programs like affirmative action are the very programs DESIGNED to cause DIVISION NOT EQUALITY. Your comment, which had absolutely no validity and offered nothing to the argument, was totally expected. Any time anyone offers up a valid argument against the ... (more »)

Regardless of my opinion on the matter, I must disagree with your undeserved praise of "well-written." This essay is written in English, and considering the viewpoint, the author is probably a white American who grew up learning and speaking English. Of course, I cannot judge either your first language or the author's, but the spelling errors even without the grammar and organizational issues severely detract from the point of the piece.

I strongly agree with a few points brought up however, this article demonstrates ignorance as well. As an Ivy League minority student, I can ensure you I my dedication to education has always been a priority of mine. Admissions committee is more linnets with minorities’ student for the following: If a student of color living in an environment with minimal resource, chances of going to college are slim. So if these students excel and beats the odds, imagine how much better they ... (more »)